1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and system for collaborative interactions with billboards, and more specifically to a method and system for allowing a crowd of cell-phone users to interact with a billboard networked to other billboards in a local area.
2. Description of the Related Art
Billboards and similar hoardings are generally passive and display a mounted picture or pictures for a fixed period of time. Their content is decided by the lessee of the space. Electronic displays have enhanced the billboards to allow remote interaction with a particular hoarding for modifying a message. Some billboards, including one launched in Times Square in 2004, allow mobile cell phone users to register by calling the displayed phone number on the hoarding and participate in a mock “auto race” on screen. However, such a billboard was rigged to take a single input interface.
Conventional billboards do not allow participation of a high volume of users from a variety of mobile devices. For example, the billboard system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,242,389 is designed for use in a defined location with a single input device. Therefore users from various locations (e.g., different parts of a city) with different mobile devices (e.g., cell phone, MP3 player, or PDA) cannot participate in an interactive display. Likewise, the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,129 does not allow a user to control images or interact with a visual display. The user can only input information. Furthermore, a group of users cannot interact among each other using the display. Similarly, the billboard system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,259,747 allows multiple users to interact with a large display, but the users cannot participate from a remote location. Indeed, the users have limited control over the display and cannot use their mobile devices to interact with the display.